Heartbeats
by luvscience
Summary: Kara can hear the heartbeat of those she loves. Suddenly Cat's is gone. Set a few months after Cat leaves CatCo.


A/N: My first attempt at a SuperCat fic. Just a quick one shot that had been running through my head. Enjoy!

Summary: Kara can hear the heartbeat of those she loves. Suddenly Cat's is gone. Set a few months after Cat leaves CatCo.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own Supergirl or mean any offense at using her or her universe

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If Kara concentrated hard enough, she could hear everyone's heartbeat in the city. Some were easier than others and only those she was around for a period of time could she identify; for instance she could easily find Winn's, Lucy's, J'onn's and even Lena's if she just took a second to calm down and focus. But she found out as she reached adulthood that if she truly loved someone that she didn't need to calm down or focus to hear their heartbeat, it was always there, pulsing in the background; a soothing reminder that they were there.

Eliza's heartbeat was always there whenever she was in the same city as Kara but the further she was from her, the more she had to focus to hear it. At least Kara knew that if she focused enough, she could hear Eliza's heartbeat just about anywhere in the country.

After seeing Jerimiah in the Cadmus labs, Kara wished that she had spent more time with him and she had become more attuned to his heartbeat like she was with Eliza's, maybe then they wouldn't have thought he was dead all of these years and she could trace where he was at now. But she couldn't and she was frustrated with her inability to find him.

Alex's heartbeat was always there, pulsing for attention no matter where she was at. Kara realized that this wasn't unexpected as she considered her foster sister to be her soulmate and her love for Alex was a part of her very being. Rao, she could probably hear that heartbeat if she were on Krypton and Alex was still here on Earth. Heck, she could even hear it through dimensions. When she left to help Barry out, one of the things that gave her confidence that she would make it back home was the fact that she could still hear her sister's heartbeat, faint as it was.

The third heartbeat that became a constant came in slowly and all at once. She didn't notice it at first, but it was there, beating faintly in the background as she went about her day. Then she had to save her sister from the crash and became Supergirl and the heartbeat became a little louder, but she still didn't really notice it (and if she did notice it, she ignored it because it was only probably just because she was so close to the person all of the time and not because they were cute and confident and did I say cute?). Finally it became loud enough that she couldn't ignore it and she felt it even when she was out of the city, so it couldn't blame it on a proximity issue. She finally had to admit to herself that she was truly and utterly in love with Cat Grant.

She was going to finally tell her about her feelings for her, the 'dive' talk helping her to screw up her courage to do it. Then Cat had to go and tell her that she was leaving, that she had to learn how to 'dive' again too and Kara was so heartbroken that she couldn't do it. She didn't even have the courage to do it that last night on the balcony, when she said goodbye as Supergirl. At least she would always know where she was and that she was doing alright, her heartbeat made sure of that.

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Kara was laying with her head on Alex's chest as they watched 'The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D' on Netflix. It was always kind of weird for her when she lay like this, Alex's heartbeat right there under her head. Kara suddenly sat up, looking around in confusion and then panic. Alex became alert instantly, "What is it Kara?"

Kara's eyes suddenly filled with tears, "I can't hear it Alex, it isn't there anymore."

Now Alex was starting to worry, she reached out and took Kara's hand, squeezing it gently, "What isn't there sweetie, talk to me."

Kara looked at her suddenly, Alex's heart breaking at the look of despair that had found itself onto her sister's normally bright face, "Cat's heartbeat, it's gone."

Alex pulled her quickly into a hug, rubbing her back as her sister sobbed into her chest. Alex tried to soothe her, whispering soft words to her. Finally she spoke up, "Maybe it's just faint. See if you can concentrate on it."

Kara sat back and focused. Her eyes squinting with concentration and she shook her head in frustration, "Nothing, I can't hear it Alex." Suddenly relief shot through her face and she collapsed against her sister sobbing, "It's there now, faint but there."

Alex sat there just holding her sister for a few minutes, soothing the distraught woman. Finally she forced her sister to sit up and look at her, "Kara, go. Go see what happened and how she's doing." Kara wiped her nose on her sleeve and nodded. She got up and quickly changed into her suit and as she walked to the window Alex added, "And would you please tell her how you feel." Kara gave a quick nod, then a small smile before taking off out the window.

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Cat woke up feeling groggy and her throat sore and dry. Then the pain registered, her entire body felt like it had been run over by a train, which if what she remembered was correct was pretty much what happened. Alright, so it wasn't a train but having a car slam into her side of the car she was in came in a close second. She tried to move her hand to reach for some water when she realized that it wouldn't move, it felt like it was being weighed down by something. A smile ghosted across her lips as she saw a familiar mop of blonde hair lying against the edge of the bed, her hand wrapped up in the blonde's two hands, her cheek resting on them. Cat gave her hand a slight shake and the adorable young woman jerked up suddenly, her eyes scanning the room before locking on Cat's. The smile that blossomed on Kara's face at the sight of Cat shot deep into her soul, bringing a smile with it.

Cat opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She tried to swallow, but her throat was dry and sore. She reached up with her free hand, the one not in the death grip of one Kara Danvers and noticed the I.V. taped to the back of it as she pointed at the pitcher next to her bed and whispered, "Water."

Kara practically jumped and then smiled shyly, grabbing for the pitcher of water and pouring some into a plastic cup. She held it to Cat's lips and slowly tipped it back, letting the lukewarm water cascade down the desert that was currently her throat. Cat pulled back slightly when she had taken a modest drink, moving her tongue around in her mouth to work the liquid around. Kara smiled at her again, "More?"

Cat shook her head slightly, then tested her voice, "No thank you. I think I'm good for the moment." Then she looked closely at the young woman next to her more closely, her eyes red from crying; and what was she doing her at her bedside in France? She sighed as she squeezed Kara's hand slightly, "What are you doing here Kara?"

Kara looked up at her suddenly, dropping her hand, "What? I mean I'm sorry, if you want me to go I can leave. I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

Cat smiled at the flustered girl, her hands moving all over the place as she rambled in her cute way. Cat finally reached out and grabbed one of Kara's hands, although it took two tries to get ahold of the moving object. She smiled at her former assistant, "No, I'm glad you're here. Please stay. I meant, how did you know I was here and how did you get here so quickly?"

Kara looked at her and her cheeks flushed yet again. She started mumbling about being in France on an assignment and hearing about her accident when Cat squeezed her hand firmly until Kara stopped and looked at her, "Kiera, enough of this. Just tell me the truth."

Kara dropped her hand and stood up, suddenly pacing along the foot of the bed. She stopped just as suddenly and stared at Cat, fresh tears in her eyes, "I couldn't hear your heartbeat. For two minutes and twenty six seconds I couldn't hear your heart Cat and it felt like my soul was ripped from my body."

Cat looked at her stunned, then held her arms open. Kara practically ran back to Cat's side, dropping into the chair next to the bed and leaned into the other woman's embrace. Cat looked down fondly, whispering, "You can hear my heart?"

Kara looked up with a playful glare, "Now is not the time to pretend you don't know who I am."

Cat smirked and then stroked the younger woman's cheek, "That's not what I meant. I meant that you could hear _my_ heartbeat among all of the others?"

Kara leaned into the touch, reveling in the feel of it, "I can hear everyone's heartbeat in a city if I listen carefully enough, but I can't distinguish a particular heartbeat unless I've been around it enough and have a connection to it."

Cat smiled, her fingers moving from her former assistant's cheek to her hair, idly running them through her golden locks. When Kara didn't continue, Cat gently prodded, "But I'm nowhere near National City, so how could you hear my heartbeat?"

Kara sighed, a mixture of pleasure from the fingers moving gently through her hair and frustration at having to admit she had feeling to the person who had left her. Finally she continued, "With people I love, their heartbeats feel like they are imprinted on my soul. The deeper the love, the stronger the connection. I love my mother, but we didn't spend a lot of time together so I can hear her heartbeat in National City, but the further she gets from it the more I have to strain to hear it." Cat continued to stroke Kara's hair, content to let her take this at her own pace. Kara continued, "I think Alex is my soulmate, so her heartbeat is always there for me to hear." As Kara mentioned soulmate, Cat's fingers slipped out of Kara's hair and her hand dropped down to her side.

Kara sat back suddenly, grabbing Cat's hand in hers, squeezing it gently. The panicked look on Kara's face might have been comical in another situation, but right now Cat was just tired and hurt, a hurt that had nothing to do with the accident and everything to do with her heart being crushed by the beautiful lady sitting next to her. The look of hurt on Cat's face made Kara what to fix it and take her hurt away, so Kara rambled, "Oh Rao! Cat I didn't mean it like that. She's my sister. She has been my everything since I was brought to the Danvers' house. I don't have those kinds of feelings for her. I don't love love her like I love _you_."

There it was, out in the open. It wasn't how Kara planned on telling Cat that she loved her or even if she had ever planned on it, but she had said it and meant ever word of it. Cat's look softened, "You love me?"

Kara leaned down against her again, whispering, "Yes Cat, I love you."

Cat's fingers moved to continue stroking Kara's soft hair, "For how long?"

Kara sighed, "Awhile now, I don't know exactly when it started, it kind of snuck up on me. I know it started a bit before I came out as Supergirl. I thought of telling you so many times but I couldn't lose my job a CatCo, it helped keep me human, so I ignored it and was satisfied with just being near you every day." Kara sat back, a fire growing in her eyes, "And then you left. You left me Cat and I knew for sure that there was no way you could ever love me then. It hurt Cat. I hurt so much after you left but your heartbeat stayed. I couldn't make it stop. It reminded me every day of something that I couldn't have and then it was gone. It was gone for two minutes and twenty six seconds and my world crumbled."

Cat pulled the now crying woman to her, hugging her and whispering soothing sounds. When Kara had quieted some, Cat pushed her back slightly to hold her at arm length so she could look into her eyes, "You know when I left that I told you it was because I needed to dive as well?" Kara nodded. Cat gave a soft smirk, "Well that was only a half truth. I left because I was too scared to dive for what I really wanted, because there was no way that someone who was," she motioned her hand up and down, indicating Kara, "well, who was Sunny Danvers, could ever love someone like me. So I thought it would be best to remove myself from the situation so that I wouldn't get hurt any more than I already was. Because if I didn't, I would slip to either you or Supergirl and your rejection would hurt more than I could bear."

Kara sat back and took Cat's hand in hers, bringing it slowly to her lips and kissing her knuckle. Her thumb brushed over the knuckle as she looked up at Cat, "So, we're both in love with people we think could never love us back, what should we do about that?"

Cat raised her eyebrow and gave Kara her patented smirk, "We dive Kara, we dive."

So Kara dove. She leaned forward and brushed her lips over Cat's, softly kissing the woman she loved for the first time. Cat's hand reached up to stroke Kara's cheek as their lips molded together, keeping it there as Kara pulled back slightly to look into Cat's eyes, "Mmmm, that was so much better than I imagined it would be."

Cat smiled before leaning in to brush another quick kiss over Kara's lips. Then she smirked, "If you think that was good, just wait until I get out of this hospital and can kiss you properly." Cat had to smile to herself at the flush in Kara's cheeks.


End file.
